MoCA Westport is pleased to announce the appointment of five new members to its Board of Directors. The new Board Members will contribute a wealth of arts management, curatorial, branding, design, and event management experience to the Museum.

MoCA Westport’s new Board Members are:

• Paul Efstathiou, the Director of Contemporary Art at Hollis Taggart Gallery;

• Elizabeth Gorayeb, Executive Director of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute; 

• Pamela Hovland, Senior Critic at the Yale School of Art and graphic designer; 

• Jennifer Kanfer, an accomplished leader in community outreach and event planning; and

• Samantha Yanks, an award-winning editor and branding expert.

The new members join a diverse Board of Directors from across Connecticut and New York, chartered to support MoCA Westport in its mission to inspire intellectual and creative curiosity through the arts.

“As we continue to expand the scope of our visual arts, performing arts, education and community outreach programs, our new Board members will provide extremely valuable experience and leadership for the Museum,” stated Ruth Mannes, Executive Director of MoCA Westport.

“We are thrilled to welcome Paul, Elizabeth, Pamela, Jennifer and Samantha to our Board and we look forward to seeing the positive impact they will have on the Museum and the community,” she added. 

MoCA Westport has also recently announced a new Music at MoCA Concert Series, a Spring Exhibition entitled Smash showcasing the video works of contemporary artist Marilyn Minter, and Camp MoCA, a new summer day camp.

For more information on MoCA Westport and its programs, please visit mocawestport.org or call 203/222-7070.  

New Board Member Bios:

Paul Efstathiou is the Director of Contemporary Art at Hollis Taggart Gallery in New York City and CT. Efstathiou is a second-generation art dealer and curator with 20 years of experience. Efstathiou has developed a well-trained and prescient eye, making him a successful dealer and curator of contemporary art. He has worked closely with 40 emerging and contemporary artists to date, including William Buchina, Marcel Dzama, Amir H. Fallah, Dana James, John Knuth, Suchitra Mattai, Knox Martin and Devin Troy Strother. He recently served as a juror for MoCA Westport’s Hindsight is 2020 high school exhibition. Efstathiou is based both in New York City and Connecticut. He currently resides in Southport, CT.

Elizabeth Gorayeb is currently the Executive Director of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc., a non-profit art historical research foundation based in New York. As the WPI’s founding director, she oversees the production of digital catalogue raisonnes for artists including Jasper Johns, Paul Gauguin, and Claude Monet, and spearheads a major digitization effort of art historical archives and documentation. Gorayeb previously served as the senior vice president and senior specialist in the Impressionist and Modern Art department at Sotheby’s, and as director of research, Gorayeb led provenance research and restitution projects in London, Paris, and New York. Gorayeb is a graduate of Wellesley College and New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. She lives with her family in Manhattan.

Pamela Hovland is a Wilton-based graphic designer, design educator, writer and visual activist. In her studio practice, she has worked extensively in the areas of identity, print communications, signage and web design for corporations, nonprofit organizations, cultural institutions and individuals. Her work has been recognized by prominent design organizations and publications and has been included in multiple exhibitions. She is a founding member of Class Action Collective, the art collective that uses design to effect social change, whose works were included in MoCA Westport’s Fall 2020 World Peace exhibition. She was the recipient of the Rome Prize Fellowship for her work exploring ways to capture the ineffable through digital technologies. Hovland received her MFA from Yale and was immediately appointed to the Yale faculty. She has just begun her 28th year of teaching as a Senior Critic in Design. She currently resides in Wilton with her husband. They have three sons.

Jennifer Kanfer is a long-standing and accomplished community leader, serving on the Board of The Conservative Synagogue (TCS), including Co-Chairperson of the Social Action Committee, Co-Chairperson of the Membership Committee, and Co-Chairperson of the Fundraising Committee. She has served in a number of roles supporting the public school system, including as the Ways and Means Co-Chair of the Coleytown Elementary School Parent Teacher Association. Kanfer previously worked in the healthcare communication field for 14 years, including positions with NYU Medical Center, Oxford Health Plans and Merck-Medco. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, an M.P.A in Healthcare Policy and Administration from NYU's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, and an M.B.A in Finance from the NYU’s Stern School of Business. She currently resides in Westport, CT with her husband and three children. 

Samantha Yanks is an extraordinary talent and award-winning editor with over 20 years of experience in the luxury fashion and lifestyle publishing industries. In 2018 Yanks launched a social, digital and branding agency under the name Samantha Yanks Creative. Yanks was most recently the Editor in Chief of Modern Luxury’s Gotham and Hamptons magazines. Prior to her Editor in Chief positions, Yanks was Fashion & Accessories Director for Niche Media, and also previously served as Senior Accessories Editor at O, The Oprah Magazine where she collaborated closely with Oprah Winfrey. Yanks began her career at Vogue Magazine. Yanks is also a prominent on-air personality on numerous television segments discussing fashion, beauty and lifestyle. She has appeared on NBC’s “The Today Show” and “Nightly News”, Bloomberg, New York Live, Fox’s “Good Day New York”, E!, CBS’ “The Couch”, HDNet, the Martha Stewart and Howard Stern shows on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. Yanks has also contributed for NBC’s “Weekend Today” show with her own branded segment “The Scoop with Samantha.” She graduated from Tulane University with a bachelor’s degree. Today she lives in Westport with her husband and daughter.